Soldiers Story - Softcover

Steinman, Ron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1575001373 ISBN 13: 9781575001371

Publisher: TV Books, 2000

Synopsis

The Vietnam War raged for ten years and when it was over 58,000 Americans lay dead. The war changed the consciousness of the military and the very nature of warfare in the future. Gathering the voices and eyewitness stories of seventy-seven veterans from all branches of the military, THE SOLDIERS' STORY is the first major oral history of the Vietnam War. Through story after story, we come to understand that war is harrowing, powerful and unforgettable. The men in this book are a tribute to the triumph of the human spirit over terrible adversity in a world they neither made nor wanted. These veterans have opened their hearts and souls to readers, and Steinman's commentary puts everything into perspective.

"Of all the words written since the war, few are as powerful as those of soldiers recalling their own experiences in a war that lasted too long and came to such an inglorious end." (Booklist)

About this title

Review:

For a visceral description of the Vietnam War, nothing can be more authentic than the voices of the men who fought it. Seventy-seven soldiers, from grunts to generals, recount their impressions of the war. Shocking details have embedded themselves in these men's minds. Their intensely personal descriptions, colored by terror and often an understated heroism, tell us what it was really like to fight in the streets and jungles of Southeast Asia.

The book's creator is Ron Steinman, NBC's Saigon Bureau Chief during the Tet Offensive. It comprises six sections: the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, a large-scale ambush by North Vietnamese regulars in 1965; the siege of Khe Sanh; the Tet Offensive; the "Secret War" in Cambodia and Laos; the air war; and the fall of Saigon. By focusing on specific aspects of the conflict, Steinman gives the book a structure and provides opportunities to see events from several viewpoints, from helicopter pilots trying to find downed colleagues under heavy fire to the men being saved. A total honesty characterizes these interviews--men facing death had no time for anything else. Some exulted in the killing, but the greater impression is of qualities such as empathy and unquestioning loyalty to one's buddy. The extraordinary experiences recounted in The Soldiers' Story molded the rest of these men's lives, and they know it. The companion to the ABC television series, Vietnam: The Soldiers' Story, this oral history makes an extremely powerful and moving book. --John Stevenson

From the Publisher:

10 1.5-hour cassettes

About this edition

• Publisher: TV Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1575001373
• ISBN 13: 9781575001371
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368